Queen of the Sciences

Oh, wait, there's a third member of the Trinity! In this episode we shower a little love on the much-neglected Holy Spirit, following the story of how the Christian doctrine of the Trinity parted company from the Neoplatonic Triad, and why the issue at stake is not just the Spirit's divinity but the Spirit's personhood. But this personal divine Spirit is also holy—suggesting that there are spirits...

Who can or should get baptized, at what age, and how? Is baptism our work or God's work? How can you remember your baptism when you don't remember getting baptized—or how should you think about a baptism you do remember when you've fallen away from the faith and then returned? In this episode Dad and I try to move the conversation beyond petty legalisms of all kinds toward a strong teaching and pr...

Why only two-thirds? In this episode we look at a specific aspect of the immensely complex literary work known as the Acts of the Apostles: namely, the Holy Spirit’s gathering in of all human communities that have been estranged from God. The story begins with the Spirit’s gathering of the Jews, moves on to Samaritans and proselytes, then Gentiles in the form of Cornelius the centurion… at which p...

It's the championship fight! Just kidding. It's just the opposite, in fact—an exhortation to the warm embrace of both Testaments by Christians and how they mutually illuminate one another. In this episode we look at all the ways Christians have done the Old Testament wrong—and man, they are legion—en route to commending a more excellent way. We tackle outright rejection of the OT, artificially for...

In which Dad and I confess our very different kinds of struggles with prayer, explore how Jesus' prayer can become our prayer, and then tackle a bunch of questions that arise: Does prayer change God or change us? Or both or neither? Can our prayers be pure? What does God do with our mixed motives in prayer? Why does God sometimes answer no even when we ask for the sort of things He Himself seems t...

Is Joshua both the most horrifying and the most boring book in the whole biblical canon? Is it divine sanction for genocide and colonialism? Heck, did any of the events recorded therein even happen?! In this episode we sort through the enormous textual, historical, and above all theological challenges in the interpretation of Joshua and explore the ways in which Christians can affirm this difficul...

 In this episode we discuss Japanese theologian Kazoh Kitamori’s book, Theology of the Pain of God. Kitamori focuses attention on God’s willing love of the unlovable and of His own enemies through Christ—an embrace that, following Jeremiah 31:20 and Isaiah 63:15, causes God pain. But what exactly does it mean to talk about God “in pain”? Is it sheer anthropomorphism or worse yet patripassianism? D...

Why is such a great thing trapped in such awful words? We discuss some of the problems with both “justification” and “faith” in contemporary English, then dig into the details of what this perplexing terminology actually refers to, and why Lutherans consider it “the article on which the church stands or falls.” Notes: 1. Scripture verses we discuss include Romans 3 and 4, II Corinthians 5:21, Gala...

In this episode we talk about Athanasius, the great church father (c. 298–373), nicknamed Athanasius Contra Mundum, Athanasius Against the World, among other things for going into exile five times during his bishopric. Why does it matter to say, as Athanasius did, that Jesus is truly divine as well as truly human? What does it mean to say Jesus is truly divine as well as truly human? What’s at sta...

Not single, not double, but triple predestination! Listen to this episode to uncover the meaning of this mysterious formulation. Also, why predestination does not necessarily have to be the worst possible doctrine, contrary to popular belief. Notes: 1. Martin Luther, "The Bondage of the Will," which you can easily find free as well as in published books. 2. Paul R. Hinlicky, Paths Not Taken: Fates...

In this episode we cover the Gospel of Mark from the Transfiguration through the curiously inconclusive conslusion. Show notes: 1. Resources for the Gospel of Mark can be found with Part 1 of this two-parter. 2. For those of you unfortunates who didn't grow up in the 1980s, this will explain about the Choose Your Own Adventure series. 3. Some other stuff I've done on the Gospel of Mark: a) Story G...

Since we both love the Gospel of Mark best (even though it's a bit ridiculous to play favorites with the Gospels) we decided to devote a whole show to working through it. We dig into the details of the theological framework and creativity of this Evangelist who created the genre of Gospel, illuminating the parts we find astounding and inspiring. And there was so much to say that we decided to do t...

In today's show we set aside the question of whether we can say the Scriptures are true, reliable, accurate, historically verifiable, false, fake, or toxic, to ask whether they are holy--whether they are in themselves, and whether (and how) they make us holy. Reframing the question this way avoids many of the pitfalls of the past centuries and opens up new possibilities for theological reasoning. ...

Here's the very first episode of Queen of the Sciences! In this introductory show we talk about our approach to theology and theology's contested place in our world, but also why Christians need theology--why simply repeating what the Bible says or doing what the church does is insufficient testimony to our faith. Show Notes: 1. Yep, I mistakenly said "hilasterion" instead of "lutron" for "ransom"...